Full Storyline
Full Storyline Our intrepid explorers started out in a tavern. Enticed by the blue Dragonborn's message, they went off in search of a ship to go pirate hunting. Along the way, they heard screams coming from a house nearby. They went in to explore, and found two men trying to escape from a grandmother-turned-zombie. The binder, being ever-so-brave, decided to tackle the undead grandma. She exploded into bloody pulp. Literally. In the aftermath, our adventurers questioned the now-grannieless men. They mentioned nothing out of the ordinary, except for a man dressed in black. According to the men, he usually hangs around the market. He gave a necklace with a black gem to the sickly old nanna as a get-well present. As it turned out, one of the adventurers had already pocketed the gem after frisking the left-over mush of the new black stain on the floor. Our merchant friend went up and started snooping through the possessions of the men. His reward was a non-lethal spiderbite and being dragged out the door. The fearless few finally found their vessel waiting for them at the dock. They set off. The captain mentioned that, every once in a while, the town will have a zombie incident. Usually, one or two people are killed by the zombie before it is returned to the grave. When asked about the black-gemmed necklace, he held up one of his own. He did not say where he got it. After a strong suggestion from a member of our party, he took it off his neck and into his pocket. After speaking with the crew, it became apparent that the captain was taking the party to the Pirate Isles in search of the only remaining band of pirates. He believes that he is the only one who knows the way to and from the Isles, besides the pirates. The cook, however, thinks he may also know the way. After some more chatting, it appears there may be a few turncoats on the ship. The first mate, it turned out, is good friends with the captain. When the captain was struck with three flaming arrows (**suspicious eyes pointed at the crowsnest, specifically, our kleptomaniac friend), fell overboard, and was saved by our binder friend, the cleric immediately rushed over to heal him. This was met with three more flaming arrows, one of which missed. Now aware that there was an attack from the crows nest, the first mate, in lew of the unconcious captain, ordered the men to get whomever was in that crowsnest. Meanwhile, the first mate began summoning a huge water elemental. A missed shot from the merchant's longbow didn't even phase the cleric. An enormous water elemental was successfully summoned. Our mage friend retaliated by summoning huge black tentacles that grabbed everything but the cleric. The merchant, ticked that he missed his shot, ran into the fray in a desperate attempt to kill the cleric. This, however, was quickly stopped by a large black tentacle. The cleric decided enough was enough, and vanished with a puff of smoke. Our wizard dispelled the tentacles, and the party focused on destroying the water elemental. Several brave attacks by the merchant, goblin, and binder brought the beast down, not without aid from the wizard's spells. Immediately after the battle, it was revealed that the merchant was, in fact, a swashbuckler. A chain of command was formed, with the wizard as captain, and the swashbuckler as first mate. Some looting found a particularly hard-to-open box. After various experiments with lockpicks, smashing, and spells, some black gems and platinum pieces were found inside. The wizard declared the money "party funds" and the goblin filched the black gems. After some quick negotiating, the wizard allowed the goblin to keep the gems in exchange for some gold. Some books were found on clerical and sea-faring topics, but not without some damage being taken from exploding runes. While the wizard rested to heal up, the rest of the party went out to dispatch the reanimated crew. This was quickly done, and earned the party a new level. Some moans were heard on the horizon, but that was not nearly as worrying as what was heard in the forest nearby. Drakes were coming. Two of them. Will the party survive an encounter with two ferocious flying feinds? Find out next Wednesday! Key Facts *Undead Activity **Probably Linked to Black Gemstones **Captain has a Black Gemstone *Went Pirate Hunting **Suvived crew/cleric encounter **dispatched reanimated crew **fixed ship, now ours *Wizard is captain, swashbuckler is first mate